1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image display device for use in a tape printing apparatus or a stamp making apparatus, and the like.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed a tape printing apparatus adapted to the utilization of various fixed formats for creating labels for video cassettes, address labels, etc. Such formats enable the user to easily print labels and peel-off stickers simply by entering text data into predetermined data entry areas. Further, there has been proposed a stamp making apparatus which is capable of employing various fixed formats for stamp images conforming to specific types of stamps, e.g. a fixed format for square stamps or one for round stamps.
The image display devices used in the above apparatuses display the available formats on the display screen as the options shown in either character-based menus (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 7-156497) or in image-based menus where the layout of each format is presented in reduced size, thereby enabling the user to select a desired fixed format from the display screen.
It is easy to know the use of each option presented in the character-based menus from the meaning of the name (character string) of the option. However, the user finds it difficult to form in his mind concrete images of labels or stamps formed based on the fixed formats. On the other hand, when using the image-based menus, it is sometimes difficult to know the use of each option presented in image-based menus due to the small size of the option or image representative of the corresponding fixed format displayed on the small-sized display screen used in the above-mentioned apparatuses.
Further, to display the fixed formats in images, the display device is required to store the data for all of the images corresponding to each kind of fixed format that is available for selection. This requires that the device has increased memory capacity, resulting in increased cost and size. This makes the image display device unsuitable for the above-mentioned uses in which the display is required to be of small-size and inexpensive.